I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4478 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to remove barriers for students seeking Federal financial aid by reducing the complexity and length of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and increasing support for working students and vulnerable populations. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 Mr. SABLAN (for himself, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, and Mr. BERA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to remove barriers for students seeking Federal financial aid by reducing the complexity and length of the Free Applica- tion for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and increasing support for working students and vulnerable populations. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Simple FAFSA Act 4 of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Sep 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4478.IH H4478 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4478 IH SEC. 2. SPECIAL RULES. 1 (a) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise expressly 2 provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal 3 is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, 4 a section or other provision, the reference shall be consid- 5 ered to be made to a section or other provision of the 6 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.). 7 (b) ORDERLY TRANSITION.—The Secretary shall 8 take such steps as are necessary to provide for the orderly 9 transition to, and implementation of, the amendments 10 made by this Act. The authority provided in the preceding 11 sentence shall cease on the day that is one year after the 12 effective date of this Act. 13 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 14 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act, and the amend- 15 ments made by this Act, shall take effect with respect to 16 the first award year beginning after the first October after 17 the date of enactment of this Act and each succeeding 18 award year. 19 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 20 this Act is as follows: 21 Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Special rules. Sec. 3. Effective date; table of contents. TITLE I—EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION Sec. 101. Expected family contribution. Sec. 102. Increasing support for working students by 35 percent. Sec. 103. Zero expected family contribution. Sec. 104. Using data from the second preceding year. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Sep 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H4478.IH H4478 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4478 IH Sec. 105. Changes to untaxed income and benefits. TITLE II—SIMPLIFYING THE FAFSA Sec. 201. FAFSA pathways. Sec. 202. One-time FAFSA filing. Sec. 203. FAFSA in various languages. Sec. 204. Use of Internal Revenue Service data retrieval tool to populate FAFSA. Sec. 205. Information on FAFSA verification. Sec. 206. Conforming amendments to section 483. TITLE III—FEDERAL AID ELIGIBILITY Sec. 301. Exception to required registration with Selective Service System. Sec. 302. Repeal of suspension of eligibility under the Higher Education Act of 1965 for grants, loans, and work assistance for drug-related offenses. Sec. 303. Federal aid eligibility for Dreamer students. TITLE I—EXPECTED FAMILY 1 CONTRIBUTION 2 SEC. 101. EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 473(a) (20 U.S.C. 4 1087mm) is amended by striking ‘‘academic year’’ and in- 5 serting ‘‘award year’’. 6 (b) SPECIAL RULE.—Section 473(b) (20 U.S.C. 7 1087mm) is amended— 8 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘academic 9 year’’ and inserting ‘‘award year’’; and 10 (2) in paragraph (2)— 11 (A) by striking ‘‘academic year’’ each place 12 it appears and inserting ‘‘award year’’; and 13 (B) by striking ‘‘academic years’’ and in- 14 serting ‘‘award years’’. 15 (c) DATA ELEMENTS.—Section 474(b) (20 U.S.C. 16 1087nn(b)) is amended in paragraph (4), by inserting be- 17 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Sep 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4478.IH H4478 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4478 IH fore ‘‘the net’’ the following: ‘‘only in the case of a path- 1 way three applicant,’’. 2 (d) DEPENDENT STUDENTS.—Section 475 (20 3 U.S.C. 1087oo) is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (a)(3), by inserting before 5 ‘‘the student’’ the following: ‘‘only in the case of a 6 pathway three applicant,’’; 7 (2) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by inserting before 8 ‘‘the parents’ ’’ the following: ‘‘only in the case of a 9 pathway three applicant,’’; and 10 (3) in subsection (b)(3), by striking ‘‘award pe- 11 riod’’ and inserting ‘‘award year’’. 12 (e) INDEPENDENT STUDENTS WITHOUT DEPEND- 13 ENTS OTHER THAN A SPOUSE.—Section 476(a)(1)(B) 14 (20 U.S.C. 1087pp(a)(1)(B)) is amended by inserting be- 15 fore ‘‘the family’s contribution’’ the following: ‘‘only in the 16 case of a pathway three applicant,’’. 17 (f) INDEPENDENT STUDENTS WITH DEPENDENTS 18 OTHER THAN A SPOUSE.—Section 477(a)(1)(B) (20 19 U.S.C. 1087qq(a)(1)(B)) is amended by inserting before 20 ‘‘the family’s contribution’’ the following: ‘‘only in the case 21 of a pathway three applicant,’’. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Sep 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4478.IH H4478 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4478 IH SEC. 102. INCREASING SUPPORT FOR WORKING STUDENTS 1 BY 35 PERCENT. 2 (a) DEPENDENT STUDENTS.—Section 475(g)(2)(D) 3 (20 U.S.C. 1087oo(g)(2)(D)) is amended to read as fol- 4 lows: 5 ‘‘(D) an income protection allowance (or a 6 successor amount prescribed by the Secretary 7 under section 478) of $9,230 for award year 8 2020–2021;’’. 9 (b) INDEPENDENT STUDENTS WITHOUT DEPEND- 10 ENTS OTHER THAN A SPOUSE.—Section 476 (20 U.S.C. 11 1087pp) is amended— 12 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘award pe- 13 riod’’ and inserting ‘‘award year’’; and 14 (2) by amending subsection (b)(1)(A)(iv) to 15 read as follows: 16 ‘‘(iv) an income protection allowance 17 (or a successor amount prescribed by the 18 Secretary under section 478)— 19 ‘‘(I) for single or separated stu- 20 dents, or married students where both 21 are enrolled pursuant to subsection 22 (a)(2), of $14,360 for award year 23 2020–2021; and 24 ‘‘(II) for married students where 25 1 is enrolled pursuant to subsection 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Sep 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4478.IH H4478 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4478 IH (a)(2), of $23,030 for award year 1 2020–2021;’’. 2 (c) INDEPENDENT STUDENTS WITH DEPENDENTS 3 OTHER THAN A SPOUSE.—Section 477 (20 U.S.C. 4 1087qq) is amended— 5 (1) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ‘‘award pe- 6 riod’’ and inserting ‘‘award year’’; and 7 (2) by amending subsection (b)(4) to read as 8 follows: 9 ‘‘(4) INCOME PROTECTION ALLOWANCE.—The 10 income protection allowance is determined by the fol- 11 lowing table (or a successor table prescribed by the 12 Secretary under section 478), for award year 2020– 13 2021: 14 ‘‘Income Protection Allowance Family Size Number in College (including student) 1 2 3 4 5 For each additional subtract: 2 $36,370 $30,160 $6,180 3 45,290 39,100 $32,890 4 55,920 49,720 43,540 $37,300 5 65,990 59,750 53,570 47,360 $41,180 6 77,170 70,960 64,790 58,540 52,350 For each additional add: 8,710 ’’. (d) UPDATED TABLES AND AMOUNTS.—Section 478 15 (20 U.S.C. 1087rr) is amended— 16 (1) in subsection (b)— 17 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking subpara- 18 graphs (A) and (B) and inserting the following: 19 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Sep 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4478.IH H4478 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4478 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For each award year 1 after award year 2020–2021, the Secretary 2 shall publish in the Federal Register a revised 3 table of income protection allowances for the 4 purpose of sections 475(c)(4) and 477(b)(4), 5 subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C). 6 ‘‘(B) TABLE FOR INDEPENDENT STU- 7 DENTS.—For each award year after award year 8 2020–2021, the Secretary shall develop the re- 9 vised table of income protection allowances by 10 increasing each of the dollar amounts contained 11 in the table of income protection allowances 12 under section 477(b)(4) by a percentage equal 13 to the estimated percentage increase in the 14 Consumer Price Index (as determined by the 15 Secretary for the most recent calendar year 16 ending prior to the beginning of the award year 17 for which the determination is being made), and 18 rounding the result up to the nearest $10.’’; 19 and 20 (B) in paragraph (2)— 21 (i) in the first sentence, by striking 22 ‘‘academic year after academic year 2007– 23 2008’’ and inserting ‘‘award year after 24 award year 2020–2021’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Sep 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4478.IH H4478 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4478 IH (ii) in the second sentence, by striking 1 ‘‘shall be developed’’ and all that follows 2 through the period at the end and insert- 3 ing ‘‘shall be developed for each award 4 year after award year 2020–2021, by in- 5 creasing each of the dollar amounts con- 6 tained in such section for award year 7 2020–2021 by a percentage equal to the 8 estimated percentage increase in the Con- 9 sumer Price Index (as determined by the 10 Secretary for the most recent calendar 11 year ending prior to the beginning of the 12 award year for which the determination is 13 being made), and rounding the result up to 14 the nearest $10.’’; and 15 (2) in subsection (e)(1), by striking ‘‘academic 16 year’’ and inserting ‘‘award year’’. 17 SEC. 103. ZERO EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION. 18 Section 479 (20 U.S.C. 1087ss) is amended to read 19 as follows: 20 ‘‘SEC. 479. ZERO EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION. 21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall consider an 22 applicant to have an expected family contribution equal 23 to zero if— 24 ‘‘(1) in the case of a dependent student— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Sep 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4478.IH H4478 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4478 IH ‘‘(A)(i) the student’s parents are not re- 1 quired to file— 2 ‘‘(I) a Federal income tax return; or 3 ‘‘(II) with respect to Internal Revenue 4 Service Form 1040, any of the following 5 forms: Schedule A, Schedule B, Schedule 6 C, Schedule C–EZ, Schedule D, Schedule 7 E, Schedule F, Schedule H, Schedule J, 8 and Schedule SE; and 9 ‘‘(ii) the sum of the adjusted gross income 10 of the parents is less than or equal to $34,000; 11 or 12 ‘‘(B) the student’s parents, or the student, 13 received a benefit at some time during the pre- 14 vious 24-month period under a means-tested 15 Federal benefit program; 16 ‘‘(2) in the case of an independent student 17 without regard to whether the student has depend- 18 ents other than a spouse— 19 ‘‘(A)(i) the student (and the student’s 20 spouse, if any) certifies— 21 ‘‘(I) that the student (and the stu- 22 dent’s spouse, if any)— 23 ‘‘(aa) is not required to file a 24 Federal income tax return; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Sep 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4478.IH H4478 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4478 IH ‘‘(bb) with respect to Internal 1 Revenue Service Form 1040, any of 2 the following forms: Schedule A, 3 Schedule B, Schedule C, Schedule C– 4 EZ, Schedule D, Schedule E, Sched- 5 ule F, Schedule H, Schedule J, and 6 Schedule SE; and 7 ‘‘(ii) the sum of the adjusted gross income 8 of the student and spouse (if appropriate) is 9 less than or equal to $34,000; or 10 ‘‘(B) the student received a benefit at some 11 time during the previous 24-month period 12 under a means-tested Federal benefit program; 13 or 14 ‘‘(3) the applicant is a pathway one applicant 15 under section 483(a)(13). 16 ‘‘(b) EARNED INCOME CREDIT.—An individual is not 17 required to qualify or file for the earned income credit in 18 order to be eligible under this section. 19 ‘‘(c) ADJUSTMENTS.—The Secretary shall annually 20 adjust the income level necessary to qualify an applicant 21 for the zero expected family contribution. The income level 22 shall be annually increased by the estimated percentage 23 change in the Consumer Price Index, as defined in section 24 478(f), for the most recent calendar year ending prior to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Sep 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4478.IH H4478 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4478 IH the beginning of an award year, and rounded up to the 1 nearest $1,000. 2 ‘‘(d) MEANS-TESTED FEDERAL BENEFIT PROGRAM 3 DEFINED.—For purposes of this paragraph, a ‘means- 4 tested Federal benefit program’ means a mandatory 5 spending program of the Federal Government, other than 6 a program under this title, in which eligibility for the pro- 7 gram’s benefits, or the amount of such benefits, are deter- 8 mined on the basis of income or resources of the individual 9 or family seeking the benefit, and may include such pro- 10 grams as— 11 ‘‘(1) the supplemental security income program 12 under title XVI of the Social Security Act (42 13 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.); 14 ‘‘(2) the supplemental nutrition assistance pro- 15 gram under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 16 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.), a nutrition assistance program 17 carried out under section 19 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 18 2028), and a supplemental nutrition assistance pro- 19 gram carried out under section 1841(c) of title 48 20 of the United States Code; 21 ‘‘(3) the program of block grants for States for 22 temporary assistance for needy families established 23 under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act 24 (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Sep 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4478.IH H4478 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 4478 IH ‘‘(4) the special supplemental nutrition program 1 for women, infants, and children established by sec- 2 tion 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 3 U.S.C. 1786); 4 ‘‘(5) the State Medicaid program under title 5 XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et 6 seq.); and 7 ‘‘(6) any other program identified by the Sec- 8 retary.’’. 9 SEC. 104. USING DATA FROM THE SECOND PRECEDING 10 YEAR. 11 Section 480(a)(1)(B) (20 U.S.C. 1087vv(a)(1)(B)) is 12 amended by striking ‘‘may’’ in both places it appears and 13 inserting ‘‘shall’’. 14 SEC. 105. CHANGES TO UNTAXED INCOME AND BENEFITS. 15 Section 480(b) (20 U.S.C. 1087vv(b) is amended— 16 (1) in par [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]